Events Detailed by Meetup Coordinator (I did not write this just edited it):
Today at the Manassas campus of NOVA we had the opportunity to educate eight members of the police force about the 1st Amendment and public property. Unfortunately, they were very unreceptive.
Chain of Events:
1. After an hour and a half of passing out Ron Paul flyers & libertycards we met a NOVA police officer.
2. We had a back and forth conversation about the 1st Amendment, public property, speech permits, and the need to leave campus immediately. He complained that people could not get to class because of us. This did not make any sense. We were spread apart and students could easily pass through. He also complained that because it was state property the state gets to make whatever rules it wants. We explained to the officer that the state actually gets its' money and authority from us. He didn't understand, but he finally agreed to let us stand is a certain area. The was good.
4. Then the fun began! This officer went back and told his supervisor about what happened. His supervisor showed up with flashing lights. The previous officer we talked to also showed up on the scene. The supervisor was not as reasonable as the original officer. He told us to leave campus immediately (this is when I left as the cop raised his voiced and threatened to escort us off the property) , and to get a "permit to speak" on campus if we ever wanted to come back again. When we asked about what the "permit" would allow us to do he said it would allow us to setup a table somewhere in the building. The available "permit" will not allow us to stand on the public sidewalk and peaceable hand out political speech.
5. Over the next fifteen minutes six more county police arrived on the scene. The discussion ran in circles for half an hour. We had to educate each new cop about the 1st Amendment, and the conversation got repetitive. We got the name of the Dean of NOVA and we will be having a chat. I plan to take a voice recorder.
6. I had to take my car back home for my wife so I left at 7:50PM with Adam and his daughter. Dave left shortly after that.
Hopefully we can get this sorted out.
Lessons Learned:
- We must bring a video camera next time. This event needs to be on YouTube. We have as much right to video tape them on campus and they have to video tape us (and there security cameras did).
- You only have the rights you assert. The state cannot take away your rights just because it wrote an unconstitutional law. The right to speak whether in flyer, sign, or audible form cannot be taken away just because someone writes a law. I asked one of the officers about why other people are allowed to speak, sit, stand, and walk on the public sidewalk; but somehow we are not "permitted" to do the same. The only answer he could give me was that we were impeding the students from going to class. It is too bad I do not have a video because zero students were impeded from getting to class.
- NOVA is owned by the state and not the county meaning the NOVA cops are state police. They actually have power to tell the county cops what to do on campus.
- The police will try to intimidate you and they will waste your money doing it. There were eight cops with lights flashing. I thought I paid these guys to protect me, and there they were preventing me from exercising my 1st Amendment right. None of them understood the rights of the people they were harassing. I'm beginning to wonder where my county and state taxes go. How can you enforce the law if you do not understand the basis for them?
Any thoughts?
Chad Nelson
Go Ron Paul!
Live free or die.